The present invention relates to an electromotive reversing car camera, and especially to an electromotive reversing car camera installed at or near a car license plate. As the car is stopped, the lens of the camera can be closed automatically. As the car is moving, the lens of the camera can be opened through a power source turn on, or ACCON actuation, input for monitoring an area behind the car. As the car is reversed, the lens of the camera can be moved downwards automatically for more closely monitoring the area immediately to the car""s rear.
The fixed type reversing car camera known in the prior art is mounted at a rear side of a car. However, this design has numerous disadvantages. The lens of the camera remains exposed at all times. When the car is stopped, it remains exposed for easy damage. Moreover, since cars are of various types, it is necessary to adjust each camera for the particular height and orientation of a given car, but this is tedious and inconvenient. Some employ components such as an assistant safety switch, a micro switch, or a photo coupler. While a simple electromotive reversing car camera is often necessary to rotate easily to a specific position, many sensors for detecting signals are necessary in such prior art camera types. Such sensors are mounted in the traveling path of the camera. The resulting structure is both complex and inefficiently realized; hence, the volume is too large.
In another prior art camera, a stepping motor is necessary. Through the proper number of pulses, the current restoring signal for an inverse image can be detected; however, in such a motor, the construction and motor are intrinsically confining. The torque to the D. C. motor is often too small. In addition, high torque is necessary to drive a standard camera, yet a camera with a large volume is necessary. As a result, the required cost and mounting space prove to be excessive.
Consequently, the prior art approach of restoring an image from an inverse image has drawbacks, and yields less than desirable technology. Therefore, a novel electromotive reversing car camera is necessary for improving upon the drawbacks in the prior art.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a programmable electromotive reversing car camera, in which the lens of a camera can move through 180 degrees. Thereby, the lens of the camera may be hidden as the car is stopped, so as to be protected from being damaged.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable electromotive reversing car camera, in which the lens of a camera can move through 180 degrees, to thereby be rotatable to view a precise region at the rear side as the car is moved, so as to monitor conditions at that rear side region.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a programmable electromotive reversing car camera which enables a car operator to efficiently monitor conditions at the car""s rear to avoid reversing into a trench, hitting a child, or colliding with obstacles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable electromotive reversing car camera, in which the lens of the camera can be controlled from the driver""s seat to be rotated to a memory position.
The present invention with the aforesaid advantages preferably employs a D. C. motor with a rotation angle of 180 degrees which is divided into a plurality of sections. As the motor rotates to a section, a variable resistor is set to a resistance corresponding to the section. From the resistance, the position of the motor can be determined. The parametric data pertaining to these small sections can be preset and stored in memory. Through a control circuit, the camera can be rotated to stopping, moving, and reversing positions. The electromotive reversing car camera of the present invention includes a manual/auto signal input, a control processing circuit, a motor driving circuit, and a load.